I know I didn't update last week. I got some distracting news about my health last Tuesday and I must have forgotten to upload. But I want to make it up to you and I'm giving you last week's chapter as well as today's chapter. Hope you enjoy.

The monster was terrible. It didn't have a proper form yet, as if it were made of clay and mud that hadn't dried yet. But it wasn't clay or mud - little bits and pieces fell off of his two-yard thin arms that ended in four spikes. Little drops, more muddy water than anything else, dropped off of its equally thin body. It resembled the stick figure of an unidentifiable animal, but even that did not seem right. Its legs were small and did not seem capable of holding the weight of the body on their own. Neither the legs nor the arms bent properly — his clumsy, wooden movements seemed fabricated.

Just like the rest of the body, its face was ugly and asymmetrical. It had no eyes, but the sockets had a red gleam to it. It had no nose or ears, but a big mouth with two rows of teeth, possibly more.

The Legends were stunned by the monster's appearance — they had expected it to look like something they'd fought before. Destruction could have easily had the body of an elephant with a tiger head, and they would not have batted an eye. But this thing was disgusting, twice as big as they were, just brought into existence and its skin was still setting in. In its young state, Destruction (or, in Greek, Ólethros) stumbled around on all fours. Disoriented, it blindly hobbled to the trees and munched on the nearest one. It immediately spat out the leaves he'd tried to consume — he was not a herbivore and hungered for something else.

While the Legends were still recovering from the initial shock, Ólethros turned its head to the Legends, knowing what it wanted. Wally reacted immediately, speeding up and running around it, hoping to suffocate it. But this monster did not have lungs (or they were still in development) and Wally was invading its personal space. It did not like that.

The monster swiped its arm to the left tripping the speedster. Wally ended up in the bushes and stayed there for a while. The other Legends attacked, and it continued to swipe its arms in defense. For such a big and slow creature, it was rather quick on its attacks. Nearly everyone ran to it — it never allowed them to lay a finger on him. Mick tried to burn it, but it would not catch fire. John tried to stun it, but it also seemed to be immune to magic. The monster hit Ray, who had approached Ólethros through the air and crashed into the ground a little away from the group.

While the others continued to fight this monster, Zari ran towards Ray. He was sitting upright but wasn't standing or doing anything other than holding a leg. She rushed to him for help.

"Are you okay?" Zari had asked him.

"I think I broke my leg," Ray responded. As he had hit to the ground, he only heard a sickening SNAP. At least he didn't break both legs. Zari was a little skeptical — it wasn't easy to provide an accurate diagnosis. Yet, the suit's metal casing pushed painfully against his leg and when it hurt him to move it just once inch… Ray wasn't that kind of doctor, but that seemed like a broken leg to him.

Ólethros, even as it kept the other Legends at bay, knocked them out or kept them at a distance, sensed Ray was the easiest target of the group. In his vulnerable position, the predator would have an easy time trying to get a taste of that sweet, sweet meat.

Ray was stranded at twenty yards away from Ray. That did not mean it would hobble over to his next victim. It did not walk — it ran.

Despite what you would think, it was extremely fast. It was easy to see past the strange exterior and clunky movements when it was racing towards you to have you for lunch. It was a horrifying sight and lunged at Ray.

Ray lifted his hand and braced for impact. Zari stood next to him, calling upon the winds. It was too fast; it would not be persuaded to pick any other target, and Zari's winds could only slow him down for so long.

But there came no impact. Ray opened his eyes again and lowered his arm. There, in the middle of the beach, stood Nora with her arms pointed towards the monster. She held it back with her telekinesis while it continuously tried to break free from her grasp and have Ray for lunch."

"Nora?" Ray looked at her.

The monster seemed stronger than her. Ólethros gained one more yard and its claws almost reached Ray. Nora luckily found her footing again and tried to keep Destruction under her control.

Zari was too stunned to say or do anything, but she was still cautious. She had her hand on the amulet and positioned herself between the monster and Ray, ready to strike should something else go wrong. When she dared to look away, she saw that Wally was standing by as well while the others had decided to try and fight the Giantess (so she wouldn't easily escape), all the while also monitoring Destruction.

Ray frowned. "What is she doing? Nora!"

Nora flinched for one second — he'd taken her out of her thoughts. This came at the cost of three more yards in Ray's direction. Ólethros was now dangerously close. Zari grabbed Ray by his armpits and dragged him away from the creature. It did not help that he was heavier with the suit on and that she could not easily find her footing on this pebble beach. Pain seared through his legs, but Ray didn't complain — so long as he was out of reach, everything was good.

When they were far enough away, they noticed Nora was walking towards the river, slowly inching closer while she also tried to keep the monster under control. He did not understand what she was planning to do until she placed a foot in the river.

"What is she…"

"She has to do it," Zari said. Someone had to stop the creature. None of their weapons worked, and he was a little too big for any portal John created. They needed an alternative method, such as the one Nora was attempting.

"No!" Ray shouted. He kept his eyes on Nora. "The river will swallow her—"

"—and that thing with it," Zari finished his sentence. There seemed to be no other way. Ólethros wanted to eat, and if Nora could enrage it enough to make it want to eat her instead of Ray, they may stand a chance.

"No," Ray muttered.

The waters of the Acheron reached to Nora's heels. She was slowly losing her grasp on the monster. The monster itself was not aware of what awaited him; it still only cared about having a meal. Any dangers were none of its concern. Nora still did not believe she was deep enough — the river was quite wide — and so she made her way deeper into the river.

A million questions ran through Ray's head. What if she fell before she had finished this job? What would happen then? She wouldn't be able to contain it anymore and it would come straight for them. That was why Zari remained by Ray's side. For her, the scene unfolded in a very familiar way as she remembered the vision the oracle had given her.

Zari glanced aside. The other Legends were doing their best to subdue Periboea, still keeping half an eye on Ólethros as they fought.

Nora now stood in the river with the water up to her knees. At that exact moment, she also turned her head to them. She shot Ray an apologetic look — she gave herself one last opportunity to look at the man she had grown to love and whose love and affection she had grown to appreciate. This one look almost crushed him.

The next look was for Zari. That look was harder, more certain and less sympathetic. It was a look that seemed to ask her to do it. Zari nodded once as a confirmation. She remembered the vision. Finally, Zari saw the context around the vision and knew what she needed to do to make sure the monster would not ravage the earth and create that desolate landscape these opponents, especially Periboea, had longed for.

Zari looked at Destruction, which still glared at Ray. It had chosen no other target, nor had it given up on his prey. It was a sign this monster was narrowminded and did not easily give up on what was right in front of him. Sending it to the Underworld might prove to be a harder job than they could imagine. Which is why Nora needed Zari's help.

Nora yanked her arms as she could and Ólethros was pulled backward, closer to her, by the impact. It was just five yards, but that was more than enough for Nora. She repeated this process as many times as she needed to pull Destruction closer and closer to her and the waterline. It still had no idea what was going on. By the time Nora was done, she only needed to pull one last time to make it hit her.

Nora and Zari glanced one last time at one another and Zari nodded. Zari stepped closer towards Nora and Destruction. Ray shouted she shouldn't do anything and that Nora shouldn't have to sacrifice herself and they would find a way that would make sure everyone survived.

Neither Nora nor Zari liked hearing him say this, but there was no other choice. This needed to be done. Nora pulled her arms one last time and pulled the monster closer. Zari called the winds and directed them towards Ólethros, to give that extra push. The monster almost fell on Nora, who could not move out of the way and disappeared under the water. Zari had little trouble controlling the monsters by herself and when she concentrated, she pushed it deeper into the river.

Ólethros finally realized something was wrong and struggled hard against the winds, attempting to climb out of the river. Even the Giantess had noticed. Zari was thankful the Legends were keeping Periboea distracted enough so she could finish the job. The Giantess may have shouted, but Zari had tuned it all out.

With one last push, Zari pushed the monster underwater. The river only calmed when Destruction was completely submerged and Zari fell to her knees. She did not look away from the Acheron, half expecting Destruction to return to this world, to do what it was created to do.

But it did not come back. Neither did Nora.

"NO!" The Giantess' roar scared away the nearby wildlife. She was furious, but she was also still distracted and now distraught at her creation's demise. The Legends in her vicinity took their chance and attacked Periboea.

Nate and Amaya — with a skin of steel and the spirit of a gorilla — destabilized by pulling one leg out from under her with their combined strength. The Giantess fell over without landing on top of any nearby Legends. As she fell, she almost dragged the cauldron with her and scraped her hand and knee.

She landed badly. Her left arm had ended up under her body and did not make it easy for her to stand up again. This was another lucky chance the Legends took with both hands. John especially seemed agitated. He conjured up a sword and stepped towards the Giantess. He stabbed away at the Giantess' abdomen.

He stabbed her multiple times and often went as deep as he could. She took her arm from under her body and swatted John away from her. He landed on the pebble beach and did not immediately get up.

But Mick would not allow John to have all the fun, or to allow Periboea to get up now she's gotten rid of the nuisance at her stomach. He ran to her and set her aflame. He spread them evenly on her. Unlike Destruction, normal flames could burn her. Though, whether John was aiding Mick from a distance or whether Mick's fury also enhanced his own flames was left ambiguous. Periboea cried out in desperate and high-pitched screams. She tried to douse the fire on her own, but she panicked. She had never been aflame before. She may not have believed she could burn like that. Periboea rushed to the river to douse it.

At first, she only remained at the riverside and while the water relieved the pain, it was still too shallow for her in her size. She went deeper into the river, and deeper and deeper. But the Giantess was heavy, six times as heavy as a regular person, and once she was in deep enough, the Acheron worked its magic. She sank through the ground, drawn in deeper by the Acheron. There was nothing she could do; when she tried to reach for the shore and dug her fingers in the ground, still underwater in the shallows, but it was to no avail. The Legends could only watch as the water swallowed Periboea and she returned to the prison she had escaped from.

The waters calmed down again. The whole area calmed down again. The only thing that pointed to something having happened in this area was the Legends and the now empty cauldron.

Sara stared at the river. She never believed the end could feel so… anti-climactic. She thought there'd be another rush of energy, one more boost to her confidence, one moment of happiness. But after witnessing the Giantess behave in such a strangely human way... She shouldn't be feeling like there was something strange about this.

But it was over. The Giantess was defeated and Sara was grateful that it was done.